Let me sing you gentle songs

This book is set in a village in Sweden and tells the story of 2 women. Veronika is seeking refuge in the village to try and write her book and also to piece together her life again after some unexpected tragedies. Astrid is an elderly recluse in the village - her life a mystery to all as she harbours secrets from her past that seem to haunt her.

They unexpectedly cross paths, and an unusual friendship develops. They share stories of about their lives which brings about healing and helps each woman to move on.

I really enjoyed reading this. It was well written and descriptive which helps to create a visual backdrop of the Swedish countryside in which their various rendezvous takes place. I particularly enjoyed how bits of poetry (mostly Swedish, and translated into English) are interwoven into the story.

The author - Linda Olsson - is originally from Sweden, and now resides in Auckland. She does a great job setting the book in her native Sweden and we get nice glimpses of NZ through Veronika telling the story of her time with James.

I highly recommend it.

What lies beneath

Who would have thought that yesterday we were having gale force winds, some of the sea was ending up on the road and numerous flights were cancelled due to the heavy winds. Today, the sea was calm (much like the picture - courtesy of Google images), the sun even came out and it was even warm-ish! What a stark contrast to the wild weather from yesterday.

I was listening to National Radio in the car driving along Oriental Bay and they were talking about the Kahui twins case. Someone (the father) has been arrest. There weren't any arrests for 3 months after the tragedy and apparently, that is just terrible. The police were not to blame, but the were lots of cover ups by the family. Someone remarked that the whole family needed to be charged for obstruction to justice.

Officially NZ has 10 cases of child killings a year - which makes us 3rd in the world (not a position to be proud of). Unofficially its 40. NZ has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world. What does this say about our nation? A couple of months ago, statistics show that crime is on the increase in this country as well. What lies beneath this nation of fun loving, innovative, creative and friendly people? What are we not acknowledging or talking about? And most importantly - what can we as a nation (not just teh government or people in position) do about it?

No more coveting!

I no longer covet my friends' digital SLRs. Looking forward to playing with my new toy! Maybe I can truly begin to discover my 'creative' side...

Check out the flickr link on the right for a sample of my experimenting with taking photos.

Musical genius

I went to the Jacques Loussier Trio concert. Gosh, Jacques Loussier is a musical genius. I can understand why he can't be categorise either as a jazz pianist who plays classical or a classical pianist who plays jazz. But whatever it is, he is am amazing pianist with incredible creativity. Who would have thought to play Bach jazz style? He has a very serious, distinguished look on him, but a great and subtle sense of humour.

And the trio (piano, double bass and drums) are such a tight unit. Their timing is impeccable. It is obvious that they have played together for a while. It was such a pleasure to listen to the Trio. They started their repertoire with Bach (not surprising since Jacques Loussier's first Trio was called Play Bach since they mostly play Bach jazz style). Then they also Spring, from Vivaldi's 4 Seasons (quite appropriate, I guess). Followed by 2 French composers - Satie and Ravel, with the last piece being Ravel's Bolero. Bolero was apparently written for a full orchestra, but the Trio managed to pull it off very impressively. I am now very tempted to buy an album with that piece on it.

Its been a while since I have been completely mesmerised during a concert. It was definitely a magical musical experience and undoubtedly one of the best concerts of its kind that I have been to. If you come across any of their music, I recommend you buy it without hesitation!

That gluggy feeling

Been sick for the last week and a bit. Besides my asthma flaring up quite badly, my other symptom is glugginess... my chest feels gluggy. Well, at least my doctor understood me, which is the most important thing. So been on antibiotics since Monday but it doesn't seem to be clearing it up. At least I have my many inhalers to keep me company too. Incidentally, the southerly made its move into Wellington sending temperatures plummeting to winter-like coldness. Which of course did not help at all. I went around the house with a hot water bottle that seemed permanently stuck to me. (By the way, my pills unfortunately don't look that cool!)

My theory is that the haze in Malaysia finally got to me. Rubee kinda agrees but with a better explanation - that my immune system was somehow boosted during the time I was there to work extra hard to cope with the new environment and then for some reason (change in weather, perhaps?) gave in to the foreign invaders. That or just the change in temperature. Or that I caught some kinda bug somewhere.

On top of that, daylight savings has messed with my sleep. Its great that there is more daylight, but who would have thought that putting the clock one hour ahead could reek so much havoc?

hazy days

Greetings from Kuching! Unfortunately I don't have any photos to upload as yet, but they are soon to come! Kuching is covered with a constant blanket of haze - the product of burning forests across the Kalimantan border. It seems like a thin mist is constantly shrouding the city. I've been told it has improved the last few days as there has been rain. But basically it makes it really humid and awful. Apparently a number of people are developing/have developed respiratory illness is the last few weeks.

I got in at midnight on Monday and I think I am somewhat getting over jet lag. Felt very tired yesterday and today, but that may just be the remnants of a busy few months. So far, life consists of eating, shopping, sitting around (with some relatives), eating, and sleeping. I guess that is what is called a holiday. Though I have it constantly at the back of my mind that I have an assignment due a week after I get back.

Also, I am officially confused as to where home is. Before leaving NZ, I would refer to coming back to Kuching as home. But now, I would refer to Wellington as home. The most disconcerting moment was when we were arriving into KLIA. The announcement was somewhat like this "to those visiting, welcome to our country, and to Malaysians, welcome home". It was then that I felt like a visitor and not like I was coming home and the confusion in my mind began. But in the meantime, I will enjoy what I can't enjoy back home - fresh local durians, chicken rice with good chilli and soya sauce, iced milo and toast with kaya and butter at a local coffee shop. But then, that is the taste of home...